John McCain Funeral Plans: Lying in State at Capitol Rotunda

WASHINGTON — Senator John McCain, who died on Saturday at age 81, will lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda and receive a full dress funeral service at the Washington National Cathedral.

Mr. McCain, who served for two decades in the Navy after graduating from the Naval Academy and who represented Arizona in Congress for 35 years, will also lie in state at the Arizona Capitol before his burial in Annapolis, Md., a Republican official involved in the planning said.

The senator’s office said an official memorial schedule would be announced once funeral arrangements were finalized.

A look at the formative times and turmoil that shaped a historic American figure, with Carl Hulse, The Times’s chief Washington correspondent.Published OnAug. 25, 2018CreditCreditStephen Crowley/The New York Times

Two Republicans familiar with the planning said that Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama have been asked to offer eulogies at his funeral. Under initial plans for Mr. McCain’s funeral, Vice President Mike Pence was to attend, but not President Trump, who clashed repeatedly with Mr. McCain.

Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the top Senate Democrat, said on Saturday that he would introduce a resolution to rename the Russell Senate Office Building — currently named for Senator Richard Russell of Georgia, who often opposed civil rights legislation — in honor of Mr. McCain.

More than 30 people have been honored by lying in state in the Capitol Rotunda, a gesture reserved for the country’s “most eminent citizens,” since the practice began in 1852 after the death of Henry Clay, the former House speaker and senator from Kentucky. Mr. McCain would be the 13th former senator to be granted the honor, according to the Architect of the Capitol.

Such remembrances in the Capitol are either formally approved by congressional resolution or authorized by the congressional leadership, according to the Architect of the Capitol.

In Arizona, Gov. Doug Ducey ordered all flags to be lowered to half-staff.

Last month, as Mr. McCain neared the end of his monthslong battle with brain cancer, the Navy expanded the name of the guided missile destroyer John S. McCain to formally include the senator, who joined his father and grandfather, both Navy admirals and Annapolis graduates. The annual military spending bill was also named for Mr. McCain, who served as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.